Kids have a tendency to run and play in the most inconvenient of places, causing unfavorable glimpses and snobby glares from on-lookers. Shopping malls, doctors’ offices, and restaurants all become spaceships, jungles, or underwater adventures for children. The reality is, kids are told, “Don’t touch this,” or “Stay away from that” in efforts to conform their imaginative minds into the dull mind of an adult. Yes, the mind of a very…very boring adult.

However, everyone should take a lesson from kids and allow creativity to run wild! At Smash Design, the fun is encouraged!

Let’s just say the team here is given the task of creating a large, three-dimensional elephant for a jungle-themed room in a doctor’s office. The 3D foam prop is made from just that- foam. Once the team has the design printed on a custom 3D laser printer, the foam is then taken in for touchups and hard coated. (Without the 3D printer, the elephant would be carved manually and, if it was needed for multiple uses, a mold may be made also) Once the multiple coats of hard coating are each dried and set, the prop is ready for paint and detail.

Question: Why is the foam hard coated? As one can imagine, foam is very likely to be butchered in minutes by little ones. For this reason, hard coating is a process that is incredibly important and done at least twice. It will allow the foam to be kicked and punched by 3-foot tall rascals with no harm to the prop. (In a way, hard coating gives the prop a helmet and kneepads!)

After the prop is installed in its location, whether it is a mall, office, library, restaurant, casino, or other commercial venue, thousands of visitors can enjoy it’s imaginative design without harming it.